Apparatus for taking over the fleece from the doffer of a carding machine



Sept. 19, 1967 APPARATUS FOR Original Filed Oct. 28,

R. WILDBOLZ ETAL TAKING OVER THE FLEECE FROM THE DOFFER OF A CARDINGMACHINE 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS: Ruoau h/lwamz HANS Ru zflDR/A/vus Rwrsem 52/ k4 Arron 5 p 1967 R. WILDBOLZ ETAL 3,

APPARATUS FOR TAKING OVER THE FLEECE FROM THE DOFFER OF A CARDINGMACHINE Original Filed Oct. 28, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TORJ;Tuoam W/uwmz fl/vs Rurz HER/RN U5 Hurs /$14 y K17- /7 7 T0 y 11 Claims.(Cl. 19-106) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The upper roller of the pair ofnip forming rollers is grooved in a manner to provide sharp edges withthe peripheral surface of the roller which are pointed in the directionof rotation of the roller. The sharp edges serve to seize and pullfleece from the intermediate filleted roller adjacent the doffer.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 319,441, filed Oct. 28,1963, now abandoned.

The invention relates to an apparatus for removing and taking over thecard-web or fleece from the doffer of acarder.

It has been proposed to remove the fleece from the dofier of a cardingmachine by an air current continuously flowing from the inside of thedoffer to the outside. This necessitates the provision of a complicated,perforated and expensive doffer cylinder as well as a special fillet forthe doffer, permitting exit of air between the fillet wires. A delicate,adjustable air distributing system must be provided inside the doffercylinder which assures equal speed along the axis of the doffer cylinderof the air streams leaving the dofler. Considerable amounts ofcompressed air must be made available which increases first cost and theexpenses connected with the operation of the aforedescribed conventionalsystem. The fleece separated from the doffer cylinder is taken over by apair of rollers, one of which is perforated for affording discharge ofthe air leaving the doffer. Accummulation of fly in the perforatedroller is unavoidable and makes removal of the fleece unreliable. It hasbeen proposed to replace the aforementioned pair of rollers by a devicewhereby the fleece is taken over from the doffer by an intermediateroller having rigid filleting and fed therefrom into the nip of a pairof rollers having plain surfaces whereupon the fleece is fed to a pairof calender rollers. This arrangement has the disadvantage that thefleece is not automatically drawn into the nip formed by the pair ofrollers, when the apparatus is started and that it is thereforenecessary to wet the upper roller of the pair of rollers to assureadhesion of the fleece.

An apparatus is known for taking over the card-web or fleece from thedoffer or a carder, wherein a small roller fitted with a flexible filletand a still smaller roller having a rigid fillet are provided forgripping the bottom side of the fleece and feeding it into a pair ofpress rollers followed by the conventional calender rollers. In order toobtain operating reliability a draft of about to between the rollerhaving a rigid fillet and the press rollers is effected so that theentire draft between the doffer and the calender rollers amounts to towhich is extremely high. Aside from the disadvantage that the fleecedoes not automatically move to the press rollers, when starting theapparatus, there is a possibility that the fleece which adheres only tothe bottom side of the rollers drops down during operation of theapparatus and may rupture. In order to effect temporary adhesion of thefleece to one of the press rollers, the roller must be wetted by theoperator to assure drawing of the fleece into the nip formed by thepress rollers. This wetting operation is very impracticable. Because ofthe required very great draft, the fleece delivered by the doffer mustbe heavy and it has been found that this impairs the carding operationwhen the fleece passes from the main carding cylinder to the doffer. Ithas been tried to effect direct taking over of the fleece from thedofler by a pair of rollers having smooth surfaces. This is not possiblewhen operating at high speed and particularly when processing shortstaple. The reason is that a dofler effecting good carding has hooks oredges at the points of the filleting which retain short staple.

Purely mechanical fleece dofling devices are known whereby the fleece istaken over from the doffer by a pair of rollers provided with crossingspiral grooves and guided therefrom to the calender rollers. Eachgrooved roller is provided with a scraper. A satisfactorily workingfillet of a doffer must be sharp and rough so that the fibres areproperly seized between the main carding cylinder and the doffer, andthe main carding cylinder is not overloaded and dropping of the fleeceto the fioor between the main carding cylinder and the doffer isavoided. If these requirements are met, a pair of grooved rollers cannotpull the fleece from the doffer. The scrapers cannot prevent pulling ofthe fleece by the spiral grooves and through the latter beneath thescrapers.

It is an object of the invention to provide a system for taking over thecard-web or fleece from the doffer of a carder which system avoids thedisadvantages of conventional arrangements and which assures automaticdoffing and delivery of the fleece under all possible operatingconditions and also when operating at high speeds and processing veryshort staple material. With the system according to the invention thecarding effect of the doffer is not impaired and the only manualoperation required is the feeding of the fleece to the calender rollerswhen starting the apparatus.

With the system according to the invention the fleece is automaticallymoved close to the calender rollers, also at difiicult situations, forexample when the fleece is very thin or ruptured and the rollers of thetake-over apparatus rotate slowly.

In the following, critical situations are listed which situations aresuccessfully coped with by the system according to the invention.

take-in, and the apparatus for taking over the fleece from the dofferoperate at very slow speed. In this case initially a very thin fleece isproduced which is diflicult to remove from the doffer.

(A2) The feeding mechanism and the doffer are started and the maincarding cylinder, the take-in and the apparatus for taking over thefleece from the doffer operate at normal operating speed. In this casetoo, the initially produced fleece is thin.

(B) The main carding cylinder and the flats are filled with fibres asrequired for normal operation, and

(B1) The feeding mechanism and the doffer are started and the maincarding cylinder, the take-in and the apparatus for taking over thefleece from the dofler operate at very slow speed. In this case a fleeceof normal operating thickness is produced but delivered very slowly.

(C) The carder is operated at normal speed and the dofler and thefeeding mechanism are stopped during a considerable period of time. Inthis case rupture of the fleece occurs between the main carding cylinderand the doffer which is noticeable a short time after the doffer isrestarted and which is followed by a continuous fleece.

(D) The fleece on the dolfer is interrupted fully or partly for sometime. This can be the case if the sliver which is fed to the carder isruptured or if there is no good connection between the running-oh? endof an exhausted lap and the running-on end of a new lap.

The apparatus for taking over the fleece from the doifer of a cardermust accurately and reliably operate in all above listed situations sothat the fleece is immediately and completely removed from the dofferand presented to the calender rollers. The conventional mechanisms,though satisfactorily coping with some of the listed situations, are notsatisfactory in all these situations.

The mechanism according to the invention is satisfactory in all abovelisted situations. This is due to the arrangement of a filletedintermediate roller adjacent to the doifer, a pair of rollers comprisingan upper roller and a lower roller cooperating with the intermediateroller for pulling the fleece therefrom, and a guide roller forming anip with said lower roller.

The upper roller of the aforementioned pair of rollers is provided withhelical grooves forming sharp edges at the perpihery of the rollerpointing in a direction substantially coincident to the direction of thecircumferential movement of the roller for seizing and pulling thefleece from the intermediate roller. In order to reliably move the endsof the fleece through the apparatus a nozzle is placed above the groovedroller and the guide roller and in the proximity of the ends of theserollers for discharging an air stream adjacent to and in a directionparallel to the axes of these rollers. The air adjacent to the groovedroller is diverted by said helical grooves to flow in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation of the grooved roller. The guideroller may be mounted to act as a press roller and may be placedparallel with or at an angle with the lower roller. In the latter casethe aforementioned air currents must flow in the direction of theincreasing distance of the guide roller from the lower roller.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, and additional objects and advantages thereof will bestbe understood from the following description of embodiments thereof whenread in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a portion of a carder.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the carder shown in FIGURE1, the section being made along line II-II of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the modified carder shownin FIGURE 7, the section being made along line IIIIII of FIGURE 7.

FIGURES 4 and 5 are diagrammatic cross sectional views of portions oftwo modifications of an intermediate roller.

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional view of a grooved roller forming part ofthe carders shown in FIGURES 1 and 7.

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a modified carder.

FIGURE 8 is a schematic part sectional view of a detail of the cardershown in FIGURE 7.

FIGURES 9 and 10 are diagrammatic top views of roller groups with thecover removed.

Referring more particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawing, numeral 1designates a carder frame having a cover 2 and including supports 3 ateither side for a filleted roller 4 whose diameter is about 120 mm. andwhich is so close to the points 5 of the clothing or fillet of a doffer6 as to be operatively associated therewith so that taking over of thecard-web is assured, the distance between the points 5 and the points ofthe clothing or fillet of the roller 4 being 0.2 to 0.3 mm. Thegarniture or fillet of the intermediate roller 4 may consist of low sawteeth 7 whose height [1 (FIG. 4) is about 2 to 3 mm.

The angle or formed by the active flank of a tooth with a straight lineconnecting the point of the tooth and the center Z of the roller 4 isabout 15 to 25. This small angle a and the low height h facilitateremoval of the web from the roller 4 by the subsequent rollers 8 and 9.

FIGURE 5 shows a modification of the garniture or fillet of the roller4. The teeth 7 shown in FIGURES 1 and 4 are replaced by flexible wires11 whose free length It is 2 to 3 mm. Each wire forms with a straightline connecting the free end of the wire and the axis of the roller 4 anangle 9 of about 15 to 25. A paddle roller 12 is placed opposite the nipformed by the rollers 6 and 4 and is rotated at about 1500 rpm. forproducing an axial air whirl in the space between the cover 2 and acover 13 covering the doifer roller 6 and extending to said nip. Byproviding a cover 13 as shown formation of web or sliver rolls, whichcan be removed by hand only, is avoided.

In the modification shown in FIGURE 7 a counterclockwisely rotatingroller brush 12 is provided which has an effect similar to that of thepaddle roller 12 in FIGURE 1. The high speed of rotation of the elements12 or 12 produces centrifugal forces which throw off the fibrousmaterial and have a self-cleaning effect.

The periphery of an upper longitudinally grooved roller 8 is near thepoints of the filleting of the intermediate roller 4 and forms a nipwith a plain lower roller 9. The distance between the periphery of theroller 8 and the points of the filleting 7 (FIG. 4) or 11 (FIG. 5) isabout 0.2 to 0.3 mm. The periphery of the roller 9 is also spaced fromthe points of the filleting of the roller 4 by a small distance, i.e., 2to 3 mm. The roller 8 is provided with four or more grooves 14 whosedepth is about 6 mm. and whose width is about 10 mm. The grooves 14extend helically around the roller 8, the pitch being about 400 mm., ata roller diameter of about 70 mm. The helices along which the groovesare placed need not have a constant pitch. The number of the groovesdepends on the diameter of the roller 8. The leading faces 15 of theteeth defined between the grooves 14 of the roller 8 form with thetangent t on the cylindrical surface of the rollers an angle 6 of about45 (FIG. 6). In this way sharp edges are formed at the periphery of theupper roller 8, the edges pointing in a direction substantiallycoincident to the direction of the circumferential movement of theroller 8.

A guide roller 16 having a plain cylindrical surface and a diameterequal to that of the roller 9 is arranged in close proximity of therollers 8 and 9 and spaced 0.2 to 0.3 mm. therefrom. The roller 16 doesnot form a clamping nip with the rollers 8 and 9.

The relation of the rotational speeds of the afore-described rollers arepreferably as stated in the following table wherein V is thecircumferential speed of the doifer 6:

Circumferential speed V of roller 4:1.02 to 1.04 V Circumferential speedV of roller 8:0.95 V Circumferential speed V of roller 9=1.06 VCircumferential speed V of roller 16: 1.06 X V Deviations of 1 to 2%from the above values are unimportant.

Scrapers 17 and 18 are provided on the roilers 16 and 9, respectively,and point opposite to the direction of the peripheral movement of therollers.

In lieu of the guide roller 16 a press roller 19 as shown in FIGURE 8may be provided. The roller 19 has trunnions extending into slides 21slidable in slots 20 in the supports 3, the slots extending toward therotation axis of the roller 9. Springs 22 press the slides toward theroller 9 and effect the desired compression of the fleece or fibrous webpassing through the nip formed by the rollers 9 and 19. In order tocounteract bending, the press roller 19 is slightly barrel-shaped. Ifthis is not desired the press roller may be placed at a slant withrespect to the roller '9 by laterally displacing the guides for theslides 21 as shown in FIGURE 10. In this case the end of the roller 19which is closest to the grooved roller -8 is spaced about 1 to 2 mm. (a)from the grooved roller and the second end of the roller is spaced about20 mm. (a') from the grooved roller 8, if the width of the carder is 400As seen in FIGURES 1 and 2 air is blown through a nozzle 23 at ahydrostatic head of about 20 to 50 mm. in a direction substantiallyparallel with the rotation axes of the rollers into the space betweenthe grooved roller 8 and the guide roller 16 or the press roller 19 inFIG- URE 7. The air current must be so introduced that the air which isadjacent to the grooved roller 8 is diverted in a downward direction bythe grooves 14. This causes a velocity component V in a directionopposite to the movement of the grooved roller (FIG. 2). In theillustrated example, the air flows at diminishing speed from right toleft as shown by arrows and moves above the grooved roller 8 and thepaddle roller 12 to an outlet 24.

In the modification shown in FIGURES 3 and 7 a channel 25 extends in thecover 2 over the entire width of the carder and conducts air at asuperatmospheric pressure of about 20 to 50 mm. hydraulic head. The airis blown be tween the rollers 8 and 19 in a direction substantiallyparallel with the rollers by means of a plurality of suitably shapednozzles 26 connected to the channel 25. If the roller 19 is placed at aslant with respect to the roller 8, the nozzles are so placed as todischarge air from the channel 25 in the direction of the increasingdistance between the rollers 19 and 8. The modification shown in FIGURE3 is not limited to the application to an apparatus shown in FIGURE 7but may be used in combination with the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.

When starting the carder, the apparatus according to the inventionoperates as follows:

The end of the fleece or fibrous web adhering to the lower side of thedoifer is seized by the fillet of the roller 4 and is wiped therefrom bythe sharp edges of the grooved roller 8 and pushed toward the nip formedby the rollers 8 and 9. 'It is possible that, initially, the end of thefleece is not entirely seized by the roller 8 and parts of the fleeceremain on the intermediate roller 4. These parts of the fleece are wipedfrom the roller 4 by the air whirl produced by the roller 12 or by thebrush roller 12 before they reach the doffer 6 and are sucked throughthe outlet 24. The fleece 27 taken from the dolfer 6 moves from the nipformed by the rollers 8 and 9 over the roller 9 and between the rollers9 and 16 or 19 toward the calender rollers 28. If the fleece is retainedon the roller 8 for some reason and moves upwards between the roller 8and the roller 16 or 19, the air current directed downwards by thegrooves 14 loosens the fleece and blows it unto the roller 16 or 19which guides the fleece to move downward into the space opposite thecalender rollers 28. The air current which is diverted by the grooves 14serves as a precaution assuring correct operation of the apparatus underall adverse conditions which may occur when starting the carder. The aircurrent supplied through the nozzle 23 or the conduit 25 may be stoppedwhen the fleece arrives correctly in the space containing the calenderrollers.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for taking up a fleece, a filleted roller forconveying the fleece, a pair of rollers spaced from said filleted rollerfor pulling the fleece therebetween from said filleted roller, said pairof rollers comprising a substantially smooth surfaced lower roller andan upper roller spaced from said lower roller, said upper roller havinga plurality of grooves therein, each pair of adjacent grooves defining atooth therebetween, each said tooth having a leading face forming asharp edge with the peripheral surface of said upper roller for seizingand pulling the fleece on said intermediate roller.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein each said sharp edge ispointed in a direction substantially coincident to the direction ofrotation of said upper roller.

3. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said grooves arehelically directed with respect to the axis of said upper roller.

4. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 1, a guide roller positionedadjacent said pair of rollers opposite said filleted roller for guidingthe fleece from between said pair of rollers.

5. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 4, means positioned above andbetween said upper and said guide rollers for blowing an air streamadjacent to and parallel with said upper roller.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 4 including means associated withsaid guide roller for pressing said guide roller against said lowerroller.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said upper roller isplaced closer to said filleted roller than said lower roller.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the rollers of said pairof rollers are in close proximity.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said guide roller is inclose proximity of the rollers of said pair of rollers without forming aclamping nip therewith.

10. An apparatus for taking over the fleece from the doffer of a cardingmachine, comprising, in combination,

a filleted intermediate roller placed adjacent to the dofier to remove afleece therefrom,

a pair of rollers comprising a lower and an upper roller adjacent tosaid intermediate roller for pulling the fleece therefrom, said upperroller including helical grooves therein,

a guide roller placed adjacent to said pair of rollers opposite saidintermediate roller, and means placed above and between said upperroller and said guide roller for blowing an air stream adjacent to andparallel with the axial direction of said upper roller and said guideroller, said helical grooves being so arranged as to cause a diversionof the air adjacent to said upper roller in a direction opposite to thecircumferential movement of said upper roller.

11. An apparatus for taking over the fleece from the dotfer of a cardingmachine, comprising, in combination,

a filleted intermediate roller placed adjacent to the doffer to remove afleece therefrom,

a pair of rollers comprising a lower and an upper roller adjacent tosaid intermediate roller for pulling the fleece therefrom,

a guide roller placed adjacent to said pair of rollers opposite saidintermediate roller, and

means placed between the doffer and said intermediate roller forproducing an air whirl along the dolfer and said intermediate roller towipe any remaining fleece on said intermediate roller therefrom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5,240 8/1847 Calvert 19-97318,730 5/1885 Harmel 1998 3,235,911 2/ 1966 Reiterer 19-106 3,249,9675/1966 Varga.

FOREIGN PATENTS 4,208 1876 Great Britain. 9,854 1843 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. DORSEY NEWTON, Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,341,900 September 19, 1967 Rudolf Wildbolz et a1.

It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent andthat said Letters Patent ere hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 6, line 2, "on said intermediate roller" should read from saidfilleted roller Signed and sealed this 18th day of November 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER. JR.

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR TAKING UP A FLEECE, A FILTERED ROLLER FORCONVEYING THE FLEECE, A PAIR OF ROLLERS SPACED FROM SAID FILLETED ROLLERFOR PULLING THE FLEECE THEREBETWEEN FROM SAID FILLETED ROLLER, SAID PAIROF ROLLERS COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY SMOOTH SURFACED LOWER ROLLER ANDAN UPPER ROLLER SPACED FROM SAID LOWER ROLLER; SAID UPPER ROLLER HAVINGA PLURALITY OF GROOVES THEREIN, EACH PAIR OF ADJACENT GROOVES DEFINING ATOOTH THEREBETWEEN, EACH SAID TOOTH HAVING A LEADING FACE FORMING ASHARP EDGE WITH THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF SAID UPPER ROLLER FOR SEIZINGAND PULLING THE FLEECE ON SAID INTERMEDIATE ROLLER.